ke charge of him.

As they were about to pass out the door, Ephraim ascended the steps and
was about to pass into the open door. He caught sight of the curious
group, and when his eye alighted on the figure on the couch, he drew
back for a moment, while his gaze remained fixed.

Then he calmly moved forward, slowly shaking his head from side to side,
and muttered: "That looks like Clifford, my companion on the ship, and
the one who aided me to gain a foothold on the spar. How did he come
here?"

"That is the man we found at Hutoton," said John. "But do you know this
man?" he asked, pointing to Walter.

Ephraim turned, and scrutinized his face. "No, I have never seen him, to
my knowledge."

Walter moved back with a sigh of relief, while John and the Professor
looked at each other with puzzled expressions.

"Then the man we found tied to the boat was not Clifford!" exclaimed
George.

John looked at Walter, and he saw him grow pale.

"Who was the man," he asked, in a threatening tone, as he approached
Walter. The latter hesitated. "We are determined to ferret out this
matter, and it will be to your advantage to tell us the whole story, for
we shall find it out sooner or later."

"I must have time to think," he answered, as he put his hands to his
head, and turned to Clifford.

"You may have until to-morrow, but in the meantime, we shall see to it
that you are kept within our sight," responded John, as he motioned to
the men to take him away.

As he left the door Harry said: "Why do you suppose he wanted time?"

John looked at Clifford for a moment, and answered: "Evidently, he had
hopes that Clifford would not survive."

CHAPTER XVII

UNRAVELING THE MYSTERIES

At the suggestion of the Professor, Clifford was left in quiet, while
John and the boys deferred their further attempts to explore the
mysterious occurrences that were looming up.

They canvassed every phase of the situation, in the hope that some
explanation might be offered. What could have been the relations of
Walter and Clifford, and who was the man that met his death in the boat
at Venture Island?

Why had the sight of the copper box and the skulls so agitated Walter?
The latter, apparently, knew of the missive, which was, evidently,
written by him, but why did he not give an outright answer concerning it
when John asked him point blank?

It did not take the boys long to inform Sutoto of the development and
the mystery concernin